Bonnie Prince Billy at Iron Horse

Jess and I went to Northampton for the Bonnie "Prince" Billy show at the Iron Horse.

I was still suffering from the back injury. It's much better, but still.

A back injury suddenly makes minor inconveniences -- waiting in lines, sitting on wooden bar stools -- into issues that revolve around critical health. I've been reading ChiRunning and know the drill. Rotate the knees inward. Align the chin and tuck the tailbone. Still, we waited for nearly an hour outside the club, in the drizzle. Once inside, my back hurt so much I asked the ticket taker if I could borrow a chair to rest for a moment. She asked some guy. "These chairs are going nowhere. No one is going to touch them." He looked at me like he was going to punch me. My back was stiff enough so that a knock down, drag out would have been better than simply standing there, but he was also a shrimp and had a bad goatee.

*

After the first song, I wondered if BPB was the best show I was ever going to see. He has a particular ability to take a song, bring it to a certain level of pleasure, and then just elevate once again. The harmonies. The dissonance. The sense of imperative.

He played "Holly Home" and "Work Hard/Play Hard" and "Hello/Goodbye" and other songs, some of which I recognized. I like his music, but I'm not the type to know the name of every damn song.

Eventually, my lumbar vertebrae were collapsing like ancient columns in the desert and I needed a rest. We luckily found a few chairs upstairs, just as they were being given up. Still, the day, with the long ride and the walk, had taken their toll and we left before he stopped playing. I'm only somewhat regretful. What started as potentially the best show over continued, and was good. But it would have sounded just as good, if not better, in headphones.

The rain had started falling. I ran to find the car. I didn't know the area, and got lost. I found it, eventually, by a fruit market. I drove back to find Jess and she jumped into the car, handing me a slice of pizza, telling me it was the best she'd ever eaten. She had ordered a slice of meat pizza for me, but they gave her mushroom. Fine by me. The crust was crisp and the heat even.

Once they rung her up, she realized that the two slices, with no drinks, cost fifteen dollars.

A day later, the fifteen would cause a long conversation about America, Europe, food, and the grid.

Soaked, we drove back to the hotel. There was a whirlpool hot tub in our room. I've never had this luxury before. I got inside, and it made my heart race, so I got out, covered with bubbles.

The lights were out, but our room as lit by the distant streetlamps.

*

I'm beginning to understand what's gone wrong with my back and how it connects with the month's long knee problems, and I'm narrowing it down: weak core muscles, tight hip flexors, and pronation when I walk. To remedy, I've started doing lots of sit up and core exercises, and I don't think this weekend would even have been possible without having done them this past week.

I've also developed a set of hip openers that brought me from crippled to concerned in a short period. Still, I've lost a tremendous amount of flexibility in my hips in a few short months.

*

I've continued to write, daily, mostly fiction. But now I'm disciplining myself to send out submissions to literary journals. I kept a log, and sent out five stories and one poem last week. I've already received my first rejection letter. Most journals aren't even taking submissions this time of year. But still, I hold to the promise: every day, another piece goes out.

MTEL

I took the MTEL exam today, which tried my bones more than my mind. With the back injury, I can only sit up straight for a short period before I need to lie down -- I needed to sit up for hours today.

The worst came during the second half of the day, when I not only was breaking pencils in my hands I was so tense, but the guy behind me kept breathing oddly through his nose while I was trying to read Wordsworth. Fortunately, he finished and left early, and I finished in peace.

*

During lunch break, I noticed people lying in the grass, holding books. This made me happy.